A self-taught journey into game design and development
Client
Own Project
Role
Creator
Services
Concept Game / Game Design
Dino Run was a personal passion project born out of curiosity and a love for simple, addictive gameplay. Inspired by Chrome’s offline dinosaur game, my vision was to create an iOS mobile game that was charming, visually engaging, and accessible to players of all ages.
The project wasn’t just about making a game, it was about stepping completely outside my comfort zone as a designer and learning the entire end-to-end process of game creation, from concept design and asset production to programming gameplay logic and publishing on the App Store.
Without prior experience in Objective-C, Swift, or any gaming languages, I embraced Unity as my development platform for its flexibility and cross-platform capabilities. What began as a “what if?” quickly evolved into an intensive, self-directed learning journey that challenged my creativity, technical skills, and problem-solving mindset.
This personal project began with a simple idea: create a fun, charming, and accessible mobile game that anyone could play. Inspired by Chrome’s offline dinosaur game, I wanted to design my own version for iOS – a cute dinosaur that endlessly runs through a colourful world, dodging obstacles along the way.
The twist? I had no prior experience with game development or programming in Objective-C or Swift. My goal was to teach myself everything from concept to release, using Unity as the main development platform for its cross-platform export capabilities, including iOS.
Design a fun, simple, and visually engaging game for all ages.
Learn Unity from scratch, with no prior gaming or coding background.
Create custom visual assets, animations, and sound effects to bring the game to life.
Successfully submit the finished game to the Apple App Store.
I reverse-engineered the core appeal of Chrome’s dino game, endless running, simple mechanics, and rising difficulty, and reimagined it with a more vibrant, character-driven style. The main character would be a playful dinosaur running through stylised environments, avoiding obstacles while the pace gradually increased.
I taught myself Unity through an immersive self-learning program:
YouTube tutorials for practical, bite-sized lessons.
Unity’s Learning Platform for structured, in-depth modules.
Community forums for troubleshooting and optimisation tips.
I applied my learning immediately to small prototypes, iterating until I could confidently integrate multiple systems—movement, scoring, and collision detection—into a single working build.
I designed all visual elements myself:
Character: a friendly cartoon dinosaur with expressive animations.
Backgrounds: simple yet colourful environments to keep the focus on gameplay.
UI Elements: menus, score counters, and restart screens in a playful style.
In Unity, I connected my visuals to the game logic, smooth character controls, increasing difficulty curves, and responsive collision mechanics. I integrated sound effects for jumps, collisions, and environmental cues, along with a looping background soundtrack for immersion.
I exported the Unity build into Xcode, navigated Apple’s submission process, configured app store metadata, and completed testing on real devices to ensure stability and performance. The game passed Apple’s review process and went live on the App Store for worldwide download.
The final game design featured a playful, cartoon-style dinosaur character brought to life with custom-designed assets and animations. The aesthetic balanced simplicity with charm, clean, minimal backgrounds ensured the focus stayed on the core gameplay, while whimsical details gave the experience personality.
Gameplay mechanics were built in Unity, combining 2D physics, collision detection, and responsive controls to create a smooth and satisfying player experience. The dinosaur’s run, jump, and obstacle-avoidance movements were fine-tuned through iterative testing, ensuring accessibility for players of all ages while maintaining a challenge for repeat play.
Sound effects and a light, upbeat background soundtrack were integrated to reinforce feedback and engagement, creating an immersive yet casual gaming environment. The UI was designed with clear, intuitive navigation, ensuring players could quickly restart or share their score without breaking the flow.
The project resulted in a fully functional iOS game with a distinctive visual identity and approachable gameplay that appealed to players of all ages. It received positive feedback for its charm, simplicity, and replayability.
Through the process, I gained hands-on experience with Unity, learned fundamental game programming concepts, and mastered the complete publishing workflow, from asset creation to App Store submission. The project also strengthened my ability to combine visual design, UX thinking, and technical execution into a single cohesive product.
Beyond the technical skills, the experience reinforced the value of stepping outside my comfort zone and tackling unfamiliar disciplines. It demonstrated adaptability, persistence, and the ability to self-learn complex tools, ultimately expanding my creative and professional range.